


Coming Home

by Tiara_of_Sapphires



Series: For Moments in Eternity (Setleth Week 2019) [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Mutual Pining, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21904171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiara_of_Sapphires/pseuds/Tiara_of_Sapphires
Summary: She was dead, and now she isn’t. Seteth has to deal with it the best he could.For Setleth Week Day 1: First Kiss
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Series: For Moments in Eternity (Setleth Week 2019) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1578190
Comments: 3
Kudos: 114





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> For Setleth Week 2019 Prompt-First Kiss  
> Enjoy!

Seteth was no stranger to death and loss. He prided himself in being able to exist for so long without being consumed by the knowledge of who he was.

Even then, as someone who lived for centuries, Seteth felt Byleth’s loss as if it were a broken limb. The initial, horrible trauma healed over the course of several months, but it never healed correctly. On the good days, few as they were, he only thought of her in the quiet loneliness of nighttime, an empty echo of pain.

On the bad days, the grief gnawed and ached.

There were bitter truths after the Battle of Garreg Mach. Byleth Eisner was dead, under the rubble. He couldn't—he couldn't spare the resources to recover her body, even though it pained him every moment. Nobody could survive that fall, not even someone touched by the Goddess. She had died alone and her body would return to the Goddess alone.

His dreams brought visions of her body in various states of decay: her blood pooled fresh and bright red and her skin pale, to her body blackened and bloated, to bleached-white bone. Seteth awoke every single time he had those dreams, retching and unable to fall back asleep.

She was his ghost, until she wasn’t.

On the day of the Millennium Festival, a woman and her cadre of students returned to Garreg Mach. She had taken point, ever the leader, as her students fanned out to see if there were remaining bandits hiding among the quiet halls.

Seteth found her in the courtyard, not trusting the word of a courier until he saw it for himself.

And there she was, no different from the Battle of Garreg Mach. It was if nothing had changed. Everything had changed around them, but he knew he looked no different. She didn't either. The implications of it didn't fully register.

“You’re alive,” he breathed.

His feet carried him before common sense could catch up with his impulse. Memories of drinking tea together and fighting by her side flipped through his mind.

He could only barely get her to smile, once, in all the time he knew her.

It had happened a mere month before the day he lost her. A crow had cawed incessantly during tea and he turned towards the source. He yelled at the crow to shut up, feeling strangely young and silly, and turned back to see Byleth’s brows raised and the corners of her mouth turned up. He had cleared his throat and played it off, but he replayed that little moment in his mind when the reality of a hopeless war threatened to overwhelm him.

In his grief, he had wished he had tried to make her smile more. He hardly felt worthy of her if she couldn't make her smile.

Now, in the aftermath of battle, there was no smile on her face. Dirt and dried blood speckled on her stern face. The Sword of the Creator hung from her hip, similarly stained.

Her mouth moved, perhaps to say his name. Maybe she wanted to explain herself, if she knew the reason that she survived. He couldn't hear it. He could only reach for her with both hands while he still could.

Byleth froze, shock-still, as one of his hands brushed over her cheek and the other skimmed her hip. He didn't want to press, even as his very bones ached for her.

He ducked down, hesitating for only a moment to allow her to pull away or tell him ‘no’. When nothing came, he brushed his lips over hers.

It had been a long time since he had ever done such a thing, but it felt right.

Seteth pressed a little harder. She smelled like the earth and she didn't pull away. Instead, a tiny sigh sounded in the back of her throat. For a moment, a brief moment, everything was perfect. Byleth was alive and they had hope for this war and _she was kissing him back_.

Her hands came up to grab his arms, squeezing. Seteth tilted his head and their mouths slotted together. Byleth tasted like sleep and copper when he tentatively licked into her mouth and drank the surprised sound that escaped her.

There was so much he had to tell her. He learned little from Rhea, but enough that it would be cruel for him to keep it from her.

He missed her. He missed her like a limb, like the air in his lungs.

“Oh, Goddess!” one of the students shouted.

They broke apart, but Byleth’s hands didn't leave where they gripped his sleeves.

A blonde-headed girl stood under the awning with her hands clapped over her mouth. “I’m so sorry for interrupting, Professor!” she sputtered before running off.

In the distance, they could hear her yell, “You owe me twenty gold pieces, Ashe!”

Seteth shook his head before glancing down at Byleth.

A blush dusted her cheeks. If it was from the kiss or from being caught, he didn't know. She was unbearably beautiful.

Before, Seteth would have had restraint. He would have denied himself this, for the sake of the Church and propriety. He almost lost her, once, and he lived with the regret of his cowardice for five years.

So, he ducked down and brushed his mouth over the warm curve of her cheek.

A startled smile lit up her face at the contact and Seteth realized that he would fight the entire Imperial army for this woman.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Byleth murmured.

He knew she meant talking about the time she had been gone and the state of the war. Much had happened and there was much to do.

Her hands dropped back to her sides and he felt inexplicably cold for a moment. Soon, reality would come. Byleth was Rhea’s successor and would lead the war and he would be her advisor. If this were to continue, it would need to be in private.

“And we should maybe have some tea,” she murmured.

“And talk.”

She nodded. “And talk,” she confirmed.

Seteth couldn't be sure how much talking they would be doing, but he could only hope he would find the courage to say what really mattered.

He had to make up for five years, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!  
> [Here’s my Tumblr! Feel free to follow and drop Setleth drabble/fic requests!](https://tiaraofsapphires.tumblr.com/)  
> All feedback is appreciated! Comments/kudos feed me and definitely motivate me to write more stories!  
> Cheers!


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